13 Chapter 13

Nearly a week had elapsed, and life in the Rills continued to bustle with activity. Magnus was presently engaged in a sparring session with Brandon, the master of arms in Rillseat. With each clash of their blades, Magnus's raw physical strength enabled him to overpower and push back Brandon. This didn't give Magnus much satisfaction however, he was aware that if the contest relied solely on skill, he would have been outmatched.

Swiftly disarming his opponent and using his leg to trip Brandon, Magnus sent him sprawling onto the floor, a sword pointed at his neck. "Do you yield?" Magnus inquired.

"I yield. By the Gods, Magnus, your strength is truly extraordinary. Perhaps one day I should join you in your renowned morning exercises," Brandon jestingly remarked as he grasped Magnus's outstretched arm and rose to his feet.

"Haha! Maybe you should, my friend. Well fought. It has taken a while for me to get used to how your people fight, it is different from how we fought at home." This was the excuse Magnus went with for his lack of masterful skill. Speaking of skill, Magnus' swordsmanship skill was currently at level 43. 'Based on my sparring sessions with the guards, that would equate to the level of an experienced squire or perhaps a young and inexperienced knight.'

"I can't even imagine how formidable you must be with your preferred fighting style then. Your progress here is truly remarkable. I must admit, when I first witnessed your fighting, I was disappointed. But now, your skill is approaching even my own. Continue on this path, my friend, and one day you may become the finest swordsman in the realm." Brandon did not jest, in his head, Magnus' improvement was faster than he had ever seen by miles, 'this must be what people would call a genius,' he thought to himself.

"You jest, Brandon. My improvement is merely a result of my combat experiences, and it will eventually plateau. However, I do plan to surpass your modest level of skill before that happens," Magnus retorted playfully. Brandon chuckled at Magnus's remark before offering a quip of his own.

"It seems your arrogance knows no bounds, my friend." Over the course of the past three days, as Magnus sparred with the guards of Rillseat, a strong bond had formed between him and Brandon. Magnus considered him a friend, and Brandon reciprocated the sentiment.

"Brandon, I must return to my duties. I thoroughly enjoyed our spar, and I fully anticipate the familiar sight of you lying on your back when we inevitably spar again," Magnus remarked with a playful tone.

"Ah, back to your scholarly duties, eh, Magnus? Carry on. Sit at your desk and tediously inscribe words on a page. Sounds like fun, until next time friend," Brandon quipped, extending his arm. The two briefly clasped arms and nodded before Magnus made his way toward the castle to freshen up before attending to his responsibilities.

Magnus had a prior intention to visit Maester Ecbert. He desired to establish himself not only as a warrior but also as an intellectual, so he planned to introduce a small taste of modern mathematics to the maester. A simple Pythagorean theorem would be enough to impress the man and make him view Magnus as a genius, despite it being common knowledge in Magnus' previous life.

---

Making his way to the library, where the maester spent most of his time, Magnus discovered Ecbert engrossed in a book. Ecbert looked up and greeted Magnus with a smile, but soon furrowed his brow upon noticing Magnus's dirt-covered appearance.

"Magnus, you're going to soil the books. Whatever it is you have to share, I'm sure it can wait until you've properly cleaned yourself," Ecbert cautioned. Ignoring the man's words, Magnus instead feigned excitement. He had to sell it, after all.

"You don't understand, Ecbert! I have made an extraordinary discovery. You must allow me to show you," Magnus exclaimed, seizing a piece of parchment and a quill from a nearby counter. He placed the parchment in front of Ecbert and sketched three familiar lines, forming a triangle. "What do you see here, Ecbert?"

Ecbert was taken aback and bewildered. In fact, if it had been anyone else, he might have simply dismissed them. "It's... a triangle, Magnus," he responded in a deadpan manner.

"Yes, yes, it's a triangle. But what if I were to tell you that by knowing the lengths of two sides, I can determine the length of the third side, regardless of the triangle's size? And I can prove it," Magnus stated with confidence.

Ecbert arched an eyebrow at Magnus' bold claims but decided to entertain the young man. He had no doubt about Magnus' intelligence and knew that Magnus wouldn't fabricate such matters. If true, this discovery would indeed be a new milestone in the world of mathematics. "Very well, I'd ask you to demonstrate and prove your claim," Ecbert stated calmly.

"Alright, I have brought a unit of measurement. This stick here is 5 centimeters long, as you can see here, and this one is 12. Now, when we combine them like this, this stick completes the triangle. This stick is the unknown side. I have derived a formula, to solve for the unknown and here it is." Magnus confidently presented the equation, a^2 + b^2 = c^2. Any person living in the 21st century would be familiar with this formula, and Magnus was introducing it in this context. He could sense Ecbert's curiosity piqued, and the maester all but demanded Magnus for an explanation.

"Here, we have side 'a' and side 'b'. Now, I want you to calculate the answer beforehand and let me know what the result will be as I measure this last stick," Magnus instructed. Ecbert diligently worked on the equation, and he was able to solve it rather easily.

"The answer should be 169, Magnus. This formula seems to be invalid. There is no way the length of that stick is so large," Ecbert concluded.

"You forget, Ecbert, there is a c^2 here, not just c. What is the mathematical operation that undoes raising something to the power of two?" Magnus prodded.

"Square... root?" Ecbert pondered slowly, the gears turning inside his mind. "Magnus, what is the length of the stick?" Magnus smiled and responded confidently, "It is 13 centimeters."

It took the Maester a bit longer this time to complete the equation. In Westeros, this level of math was considered advanced, so after approximately 20 seconds, Ecbert dropped his quill. There it was, the answer: 13. "Magnus, I must test this again," Ecbert insisted. As a learned man, Ecbert couldn't simply accept such a formula without further proof; he needed to confirm its validity.

Gathering books of various sizes, Ecbert finally found three whose bindings formed a right triangle. Taking the ruler from Magnus' hand, he measured the length of the first two sides and plugged them into the formula Magnus had "created." "20.5^2 + 25^2 =..." Ecbert struggled, as this was much more complex than the previous calculation. Surprisingly, Magnus, alongside Ecbert, was able to discern the answer within a few seconds.

"It is 1045.25, Ecbert," Magnus confidently stated. Ecbert was astonished by Magnus' speed and fact-checked the result by solving it himself. After a minute or two, Ecbert arrived at the same answer as Magnus, leaving him bewildered.

"Lad, you might just be a genius. But how am I supposed to find the square root of such a number? There is no answer; no number works," Ecbert expressed his frustration. He believed in Magnus' formula, but it seemed to only work for certain sizes.

"Maester, there is an answer to such an equation. The answer is 32.3 with a few extra decimals, those decimals aren't important, however. Please measure the length of the last book, Ecbert." Magnus encouraged Ecbert to continue his exploration. Ecbert was once again astonished by Magnus' speed in solving such complex problems. It seemed too fast to comprehend. After double-checking Magnus' result, he arrived at 1043.29 after a few minutes of work. This value was incredibly close to what the theorem had generated, confirming its accuracy. Ecbert measured the length of the book, further solidifying the validity of Magnus' formula.

"32.3 centimeters...Magnus, this is revolutionary!" Ecbert exclaimed, dropping his ruler and turning to face Magnus. "I must share this with my colleagues at the Citadel. This formula will revolutionize the world of mathematics! Magnus, you are a genius! Rest assured, I will ensure you receive credit for this remarkable discovery." Magnus chuckled at Ecbert's enthusiastic excitement.

"I had no doubt that an honorable man like you would do otherwise, Ecbert," Magnus replied with a smile. The two men shared a moment of joy, realizing the significance of Magnus' new 'discovery'. In Magnus' mind, he couldn't help but think, 'Apologies, Pythagoras, but I've stolen your equation.'

(I've reached a point where I feel I should start to develop some romance, I wanted to leave the love interest up to you guys, so please pick from the following;

Lyanna Stark

Barbrey Ryswell

Dacey Mormont

OC (I'm thinking either a Targaryen or from a northern house, it just makes more sense to me)

Anyways, thanks for reading! Please comment on whichever one you wish for. The one with the most comments is the one I will pick.